The Anathemata
Middle-sea and Lear-sea (continued)
Half a millennium or so
since
out went the Lucomos
since we became
abasileutos.
A good year?
But little more
(the Kalends are erased or never reckoned)
since those hidden years
when an armaments commission
(Tuscan at that)
could and did
effectively proscribe us:
plant
operatives
raw metal.
That takes you back
and aback.
The Urbs without edged iron
can you credit it?
Nudge Clio
she’s apt to be musing.
Slap her and make her extol
all or nothing.
comments
This paragraph refers to the years from about 650 BCE when Rome fell under the the Etruscan kings (‘lucomones’, which DJ anglicises as ‘lucomos’, probably for euphonic reasons). During this time, the Etruscans did indeed maintain strong control over the city. ‘abasileutos’ (which should read ‘abasileutoi’, but again DJ probably changed it for euphonic reasons relating to ‘lucomos’) means ‘without kings’ and refers to Rome gaining its autonomy about 500 BCE. So the first three lines place the text around the time of the birth of Christ. ‘The Urbs’ refers to Rome, as it almost always does in DJ. Records of this time may have been lost, or never recorded, but Clio will know.
For a good brief summary of the Etruscan occupation and influence, see this article.